Is President Trump a racist?
On the one hand, he’s an equal opportunity bully, just as likely to deem lily white elites such as Mitt Romney a “dog” as he is Jeremiah Wright. In a rare strain of consistency of policy, he’s espoused protectionism throughout his entire public life, slamming Japan’s trade policy in the 80s with as much fervor as he does France today. Claims of racial discrimination trailed Trump’s business practices for decades, but all throughout that time he amassed black friends in the celebrity circles of Manhattan and Hollywood.
It is fully possible that despite his protectionism, cultural elitism that quickly translates into xenophobia, and urban boomer upbringing, Trump does not hold one iota of racism in his heart. But his presidential campaign made clear that he was more than happy to wink and nod to the most disgusting and deplorable bigots in the country for political gain.
Since the disgraceful days of refusing to denounce David Duke outright and bringing alt-right cheerleader Steve Bannon into the hallowed halls of the White House, Trump markedly changed his tune. He signed groundbreaking criminal justice reform and worked across the aisle to advocate for disproportionately incarcerated black Americans outside the Beltway. He’s earned the outright ire of the rabidly anti-Semitic alt-right by elevating the eminence of our Israeli friendship to new heights and keeping Jews in the White House in power while ousting figures beloved by the alt-right, such as Michael Flynn and Sloppy Steve. And today he finally gave the sort of statement he should have issued two years ago, when a white supremacist murdered Heather Heyer in cold blood in Charlottesville.
Among some other disproven drivel about video games causing violence, a wise note on our nation’s mental health plague, and an exceptionally promising pitch to entertain effective red flag laws, Trump did what a leader must do — name and shame the enemy and the evil empowering their violence:
Whatever they need, we must recognize that the internet has provided a dangerous avenue to radicalize disturbed minds and perform demented acts. We must stop mass murders before they start. The internet, likewise, is used for human trafficking, illegal drug distribution, and so many other heinous crimes. The perils of the internet and social media cannot be ignored and they will not be ignored.
Was that really so hard? In a matter of one minute, Trump denounced white supremacy as the singular evil fueling the El Paso shooting. He rightly deemed it an act of terrorism, and called out the internet for radicalizing racists in no less uncertain terms than we condemn terror chat rooms for enabling radical Islamic terrorism. This was the speech America needed, but now we have to wait and see if one last divide can be bridged between Trump’s promises and his people.
To be clear, Trump is as responsible for the El Paso shooting as Bernie Sanders was for the Republican baseball field shooting, or Elizabeth Warren for the shooting in Ohio by one of her fans — which is to say that Trump bears no responsibility at all, as do they. Trump never issued a call to violence, and his actions and words have only improved on this pivotal front rather than worsened from his 2017 nadir. But the president has the power to alienate, shame, and excise the alt-right from his coalition even before he signs a single piece of legislation.
The curse of tweeting as much as our trigger happy president does is that what remains unsaid speaks just as loudly as what he does say. If Trump can tweet about Don Lemon and Fox News not giving him glowing enough coverage a dozen times a week, it speaks volumes that he’s frequently remiss in distancing himself from his most disgusting supporters.
Americans of all political stripes must encourage the pivot he showed today because this isn’t a matter of policy. It’s a matter of life and death. The alt-right may remain confined by the numbers, but they proved this weekend that, as Trump described them, they’re “barbaric.” They’re friendless, basement dwelling mouth breathers who cling to their whiteness because they have no career, credentials, church, or community to which they can peg their identities. And now they’re increasingly violent, translating their 8chan message boards and rape and death threats into bullets and brutality.
If Trump is truly trying to change his tune and wage war on domestic terror, conservatives, and liberals should join forces in cheering him on. Part of that involves holding him to account, and reminding him of the promise he made to the people today.
